Welcome! (And Frequently Asked Questions) 
Q. Hello? A. Yes, Hello! Welcome to my site on the world wide web! For those of you who don't know me, read on to learn more about me.
Q. Who are you? A. I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. My path getting here is an interesting one. I earned a bachelor's degree in computer science (software engineering) from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. However, even before I graduated, I realized that I would not be happy debugging endless lines of programming code for the rest of my life. I wanted to do something more meanginful, and decided that I wanted to study law. I felt unprepared for law school, however, so I first obtained a master's degree in political science from Eastern Illinois University. I then earned my J.D. from the Southern Illinois University School of Law. However, while still in law school, I realized that I loved learning about the law, but would not enjoy the practice of it. Upon graduating, while deciding what to do in the long term, I clerked for Justice James A. Knecht of the Illinois Appellate Court (Fourth District) for two years. I concluded that an academic career in teaching would best allow me to continually pursue my passion for constant learning. I thus went on to earn a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Kentucky in 2001, so that I would be qualified to teach both law and politics at the university level. Upon graduating, I obtained a teaching position here. My major fields of interest and expertise are judicial and legal politics as well as American constitutional civil liberties and civil rights. However, I also am self-taught in philosophy, primarily political, ethical, and religious philosopohy.
Q. What's your web site all about? A. I designed this web site for students and anyone else who wishes to use it, to help people improve their knowledge of American government and politics, as well as learn more about topics I teach more thoroughly in the humanities program, such as how to have the best, most flourishing human life possible. So, please explore my web site for more information about these topics.
Q. But why should I care? A. Whether you like it or not, your government affects every aspect of your life from cradle to grave (and even before and after that!). The sooner you understand this, the sooner you can start to influence the government to improve civilization for yourself, the people you care about, and society as a whole (which in turn benefits you also). Importantly, this requires that you understand what is the best human life possible and how to accomplish that best life. Thus, "politics" and "government" cannot be properly understood unless one also has a thorough understanding of political, ethical, and religious philosophy. All these concepts are inseperable and necessary in determining and achieving the best individual and collective human life possible.
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